High school linebacker receives special message from NFL star Video

Transcript for High school linebacker receives special message from NFL star

Well, now to an inspiring athlete proving himself on the gridiron. He’s a one-handed high school footballer, and he’s just earned a college scholarship and recognition from an NFL star, a very special one and ABC’s Zachary kiesch is here with the story. Zachary, good morning. Dan, Eva, whit, good morning to you. What a great story. This is about the journey of one young man and his relentless pursuit of his dreams no matter the obstacles and now he’s put himself in a position to go to the next level. Alex Hurlburt is a top defensive player for west Salem high school in Oregon. On Friday night he helped lead his team to a blow-out win against the crosstown foe. Alex is known for his passion for the game and his toughness on and off the field. I didn’t want to be seen as, you know, that kid with — with one arm. Reporter: Hurlburt benches 270 pounds. Using a little creativity in the gym, Hurlburt does 500-pound deadlifts. Finding a way has been his story from the beginning. He was born with just one hand due to a complication at birth. Now he’s doing what most can’t achieve with two hands. This week he found out he’ll play division 1 football on a full ride scholarship at the university of Montana. Anything is possible. I mean, I never saw myself playing college football. This isn’t about his arm to me. This is about him being a great football player and a great human being and that’s the part I’m most proud about. Reporter: Alex’s story got the attention of shaquem griffin, the NFL rookie was born without a left hand. Griffin tweeted to Alex after his scholarship announcement, I see you, bro and then surprising Alex and his football buddies with a special message. Hey, what’s up, Alec. It’s shaquem griffin here. I want to let you know, congrats to signing to the university of Montana. To hear from him personally like that is incredible. Reporter: A unique bond by two guys giving the game all they have. Getting to see it done by someone before me is pretty, pretty incredible. You know, Alex has battled through adversity perhaps in a way that we can all relate to as we approach life, but, hey, he’s going to Montana. His team, west Salem got a big “W” last night so we want to give a shoutout to Alex and all the guys that might be watching the program. Great, great, program and great story. You played football. Just how extraordinary is it, Zachary, to do what he’s doing? I mean it’s all about your hands and it’s all about your footwork but they also say that, you know, the game is just 20% physical. 80% of the game is mental and clearly he has the right mind-set. Great. Thank you, Zachary. Thank you. Coming up here on “Gma,”

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